Truss



April 1960 J. E. HANSEN 2,933,084

- TRUSS Filed July 9, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l Fig. I

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INVENTOR. JULIUS E. HANSEN ATTOR NEYS April 1960 J. E. HANSEN 2,933,084

muss

Filed July 9, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. JULIUS E. HANSEN ATTORNEYS Unite rates TRUSS Julius E. Hansen, Providence, RI. Application July 9, 1954, Serial No. 442,293

11 Claims. ((31. 128-405) The present invention relates to trusses, and more particularly to a new full-fashioned truss of the class utilizing a metallic side spring.

This application continues in part my copending application Serial No. 331,165, filed January 14, 1953, now Patent No. 2,710,002.

The art of manufacturing trusses for abdominal ruptures of various types has continuously sought to improve the comfort of the wearer, to insure against slippage of the pad from the hernia, and to provide adequate holding power to restrain the tendency of abdominal parts to enter the ruptured area. The difiiculties attendant upon these efforts reside in the wide variety and varying degrees of rupture that must be provided for, in the activities of the wearer, and in the differences in skeletal structure and fieshiness of various users.

- Up'to the present time, no single truss structure has been proposed which will accommodate more than a limited range of rupture cases. A typical conventional truss design is manufactured in a relatively large number of sizes, but in spite of this degree of selection it is ordinarily found that the closest size available must be modified in some fashion, such as by bending the parts or by substituting other parts from an available stock, to meet the requirements of the particular wearer. This requires expert fitting skill.

It is obvious, of course, that the dificulty of fitting a truss is a direct result of the mode of operation of the truss design selected. For example, the truss may be of the elastic type wherein no spring side members are used, or of the so-called rigid or continuous wire type wherein the body is virtually held within a clamp by the side springs. Each type of truss has its own distinct properties and limitations, and its efiicacy in any particular instance is ordinarily dependent upon the experience and skill of the truss fitter.

One of the principal objects of this invention is to provide a radically new type of truss which is intentionally designed to fit the exact needs of any wearer automatically and without the need for special tools, and at the same time to insure slipproof holding power sufficient to accommodate the most aggravated rupture cases.

It is my further object to improve the comfort of the wearer, regardless of his position and normal physical activities.

With the above and other objects hereinafter more fully appearing in view, the features of the invention include an entirely new approach to the problem of truss fitting. According to this approach, the truss frame is composed of two or more metallic parts adjustably arranged to support the pad or pads, each part being specifically designed to fit the exact contours of a corresponding part of the body. This truly full-fashioned type of metallic truss frame is, to my knowledge, entirely new in the art, and introduces a whole new set of features never before available to the trade.

Thus, while elastic-type trusses are body conforming, they lack the holding power of a rigid truss, and conventional rigid trusses in present use are not body-conforming and are indeed intentionally fitted so that they will 2,933,084 Patented Apr. 19, 1960 stand out from the body at places, rather than conforming to it. On the other hand, my new truss is not only bodyconforming, so that it fits more comfortably and accommodates physical motion more readily than a rigid truss, but it has as great or greater holding power and is distinctly less likely to slip away than a rigid truss, due to its close conforming fit.

An important part of my invention'is the new, fullfashioned body contour side spring which I have introduced to the trade, and which has been regarded on all hands as a radical innovation in truss fitting.

The side spring is attached to a metallic yoke member by means of an adjustable, overlapping fit, the attachment being preferably made directly over the pad. The spring fittingly conforms to the body contours from the back forwardly to the pad or pads where the connection to the yoke is made.

Because of the above features of the side spring, I am able to introduce a modification in the truss which is unlike anything known to the business. According to this modification, I use a full-size, full-fashioned contour side spring on one side only, namely the more severely ruptured side, and I either provide a flexible belt to pass around the other side for connection to the abdominal yoke directly over a dummy pad on the well side, or else I provide a shortened, specially pre-bent side spring fas tening to the yoke over a pad at the well side, and adapted to apply an additional supporting leverage over the well side upon tightening of the belt. in either case, this variation utilizes a leverage action directly resulting from the reaction of the full-size spring.

Where I use a shortened side spring with the full-size spring, the two springs react upon one another to produce sufficient holding power for double hernias, and I am actually thus able to provide what is effectively a double or bilateral truss without complete or even substantially complete encirclement of the body by the side springs.

Other features of the invention reside in certain details of construction, arrangements of the parts and modes of operation which will be evident from the following description and the accompanying drawings, in which Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are top, front and side elevations, respectively, of my preferred, full-fashioned, full-size body contour side spring;

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are top, front and side elevations, respectively, of my reversely-bent partial side spring to be used in combination with the full-size spring according to one variation of the truss;

Fig. 7 is a front elevation of a typical bilateral truss utilizing two full-size springs of the type shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3;

Fig. 8 is a front elevation of a typical single truss utilizing only one full-size side spring of the type shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3; and

Fig. 9 is a front elevation, with the belt covering removed, of a truss utilizing a full-sized side spring of the type shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 in combination With a partial side spring of the type shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6.

Referring first to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, I show the details of a full-size, full-fashioned contour side spring according to the invention. This spring is intentionally shaped to fit the body at every point along its length directly up to the front pad at all times and in all positions of the wearer. To this end, the following specific features of the spring are particularly noted.

First, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3, the spring 12 has re verse bends generally indicated at 14 and 16 forming what may be referred to as an 8 drop in front.

Second, as seen more particularly in the front elevation,

' shift-proof holding power.

the spring has a bend 18 which is inclined downwardly toward the right side for a right side spring (as illustrated) and downwardly toward the left side for a left side spring. As shown in the top view (Fig. 1), this bend imparts to the front end of the spring a forward offset at the upper edge, the purpose of which will be hereinafter more fully described.

Third, the spring has a flared region 20 which is visible in Figs. 1 and 2, and which begins immediately adjacent the'bend 18, increases gradually in angle of flare to a point adjacent the side extremity of the hip, and then gradually decreases in angle of flare towards an approximately vertical alignment at the back end.

' Fourth, the spring has a slightly upward curve adjacent the back end 22, as seen particularly in Figs. 2 and 3.

At its forwardly-tilted front end, the spring 12. has a slot 24 for adjustable cooperation with the yoke and pad securing means, and the flat region adjacent the slot ispreferably provided with serrations 26.

The foregoing features of the spring comprise a series of angles and curves designed to create a maximum of shift-proof holding power with a minimum of pressure.

It will be understood that the opposite side spring for a bilateral truss would be a mirror image of the one illustrated in Figs. 1, 2=and 3. Such a bilateral truss is illustrated in fully-assembled form in Fig. 7. It will be understood that any suitable spring covering such a leather, fabric or plastic may be used, but I preferably employ a simple leather sleeve covering 28 as illustrated, with a stitched longitudinal outseam 30 on the side away from the body. I

At the, back, I preferably receive the covering 28 and spring into a leather or plastic-covered back pad 32, which may be filled with cushion material if desired. The illustrated pad consists of two covers of suitable material stitched over a metal plate 34 having a threaded hole 36. A screw is passed through the outside cover of the pad and a hole 33 (Fig. 2) of the spring, and threaded into the plate 34, thereby firmly .securing the back pad to the spring. The two back pads are illustrated as being drawn together by a leather strap 46 having a series of spaced eyes 42 adapted to be slipped over the screw heads in a well-known manner. It will be understood, of course, that the strap 40 may be secured by any other suitable alternative means, such as a buckle.

At the forward end of the truss, each side spring is secured both to a pad 44 and to a .rigid metallic slotted abdominal yoke 46 by means of a single screw '48 which passes first through a slot 50 in the yoke 46, then through the slot 24 in the spring 12, and finally into a threaded hole'in a metallic plate 52 contained within the pad. Preferably, I provide serrations in the face of the yoke adjacent the slots, these serrations engaging the serrations 26 of the side springs. The yoke is preferably constructed with raised walls passing over the upper and lower edges of the springs to prevent relative rotation, as described in my said application, and these walls may be provided with gripping projections as shown in Fig. therein, to hold the pad firmly when the screw is tightened.

The following features of the truss in Fig. 7 are to be particularly noted. a

The abdominal yoke 46 with the slotted clutch at both ends spans the lower abdominal region from groin to groin in such a manner that the supporting side springs are caused to fit directly over the ruptured area, the purpose being to attain a maximum amount of torsional side spring action, thereby aiding and assisting. in achieving The bend 18 and theoffset it creates in the side springs also provides the correct angular relation of the pads. to the abdomen, with the torsional resiliency of the springs holding the pads in this position.

The clutch construction provides three forms of adjustment, in that the pads may be shifted toward and away from one another in their respective slots 50 in the-yoke,

4 the springs may be lengthened or foreshortened by reason of their slots 24, and the pads may be rotated clockwise or counterclockwise as viewed in Fig. 7, prior to the tightening of the screws 48 which hold them firmly in place. This enables the side springs to be conformed exactly to the body measurements, thereby relieving spring pressure and adding to the comfort of the wearer. By reason of the foregoing construction of parts selected and adjustable to conform exactly to body measurements, I have found that a reduced number of sizes, with interval of as much as two full sizes, is sufficient to accommodate the vast majority .of cases, thus making it possible for the fitter to reduce his required inventory of parts and special fittings and tools for proper fitting. I also have found that by reason of the screw adjustment features, a truss assembled from parts constructed as .1 have described above requires less custom modification such as bending and twisting of the parts to fit the wearer than has been customary with conventional rigid trusses. The frame of the single truss illustrated in Fig. 8 is similar on the ruptured side to the bilateral truss of Fig. 7. However, I preferably use a somewhat different covering which consists essentially of an elasticized strap 54 to which is stitched a leather cover 56, inside which the spring 12 is inserted. A metallic abdominal yoke 58 having a single slotted clutch, left or right depending on which side is ruptured, is secured to the pad and spring in the same manner as in the case of Fig. 7. The other end of the yoke has a hook 60 to pass through a suitable metal buckle 62 at the other end of the strap 54. A dummy pad 64 which mayycontain any desired amount of filling, is preferably formed of two pieces of leather stitched at the edges with a centrally-located slot 66 in the outer piece and an opening 68 through which the clutch end of the yoke is received in assembly. Thus, the

truss is adjustably fastened at the ruptured side, and the yoke serves as a means for supporting the auxiliary or dummy pad. This arrangement thus creates full .sup-.

port for theruptured side, and also needed leverage-action support for the well or weak side, while affording asecond balancing point of anchorage for the truss and entirely eliminating any need for an understrap which is customarily used on some single trusses.

In Fig. 9, I show the frame of a special variant of truss, utilizing the full-size side spring 12 on one side and a reversely-bent partial side spring 70 on the other side. The yoke 46 is identical to that of Fig. 7 and provides the same adjustable features.

Details of the spring 70 may be more clearly seen in Figs. 4, 5 and 6. This spring is preferably somewhat thinner and weaker than the full-size spring 12. It has a diagonal bend 72 of substantially the same slope, :as

, viewed from the front, as the bend 18 on the opposite side, but which is the converse of the bend which ;a full: size spring on the sameside would normally have. Thus, with the yoke 46 held in the position which it normally occupies when worn, the spring 7 0, if unrestrained, would tend to move outwards from the body to the position .illustrated in broken lines at 74.

As worn, the frame illustrated in .Fig. 9 is suitably covered by a belt like that of-Fig. 7 or a modified form of the belt in Fig. 8 which covers both side springs, with provision being made totake up the required length of belt at the back. As the belt is drawn tighter, the spring 70 ispulled to the position shown in full lines which is closely adjacent the body.

Thus, in this variant the reverse bend 72-forces-the back of the spring outwardly away from the body, thereby creating a leverage. action over the hernia pads when the truss is drawn around the body. The combination of short and long side springs with reverse diagonal front bends createsa truss especially suitable for older people who are adverse to spring encirclement of a major part of the body.

It will be understood that the various illustrated forms a pad secured to the yoke adjacent its end, and a fullfashioned side spring member adapted to fit closely to the body from the back to the, pad, said spring member having a slotted front portion secured over the pad and offset forwardly at the upper edge and a pair of longitudinally displaced opposite bends to lower said portion in relation to the side portion, whereby the side member drops into a position directly over the ruptured area and provides an inward and upward thrust to the pad.

2. A truss as defined in claim 1 wherein the side portion of the spring member is flared increasingly from a substantially vertical transverse line adjacent the front portion toward the side and decreasingly from the side to the back end of the spring.

3. A truss having, in combination, a metallic yoke adapted to span the lower abdomen without extending substantially outside the region defined by the groins, a pad adjustably secured to the yoke adjacent each end thereof, a full-fashioned side spring member adapted to fit closely to the body from the back to one pad, said member having a front portion secured over the pad and offset forwardly at the upper edge, a partial side spring member extending from a point adjacent the opposite side to the other pad and being offset oppositely to urge the side portion thereof away from the body, said spring members being joined adjustably and rigidly to the yoke over the pads, and means to draw the partial side spring member closer to the body.

' 4. A full-fashioned truss spring having a longitudinally slotted front end portion offset forwardly at the upper edge and a side portion adapted to extend to the back, said spring having a pair of longitudinally displaced reverse curves to displace the front end portion downwardly in relation to the side portion as worn, and the side portion being flared increasingly from a substantially vertical transverse line adjacent the front end portion toward the side and decreasingly from the side to the back end of the spring.

5. A metallic truss spring having appreciably greater width than thickness, said spring having a hip portion shaped to fit conformingly about the hip of the wearer and a forward portion defined by a diagonal bend, said bend causing the upper edge of the forward portion to be offset outwardly from the body of the wearer as worn, the spring having a pair of reverse curves to displace the forward portion downwardly in relation to the hip portion as worn.

6. A metallic truss spring having appreciably greater width than thickness, said spring having a hip portion shaped to fit conformingly about the hip of the wearer and a forward portion defined by a diagonal bend, said bend causing the upper edge of the forward portion to be offset outwardly from the body of the wearer as worn, the spring having a pair of reverse curves to displace the forwardportion downwardly in relation to and substantially parallel with the hip portion as worn.

7. A truss having, in combination, a metallic yoke adapted to span the lower abdomen of the wearer, a pair of pads secured in spaced relation on the yoke, a

full metallic side spring secured rigidly to one pad and shaped to fit conformingly about the hip of the wearer from the pad substantially to the back, and a partial metallic side spring secured rigidly to the other pad and the full spring having a diagonal bend defining a forward portion having an upper edge offset outwardly from the body of the wearer as worn and the partial spring having a diagonal bend in a direction to displace the portion more remote from the pads outwardly away from the body as Worn.

8. A truss spring having substantially greater width than thickness and having a bend on a line diagonal to its length, said bend being directed downwardly and away from the body toward the side on which the spring is to be worn, said bend defining a forward portion and a hip portion, the hip portion being flared outwardly at the bottom as worn with no portion thereof flared inwardly and the forward portion being slanted inwardly at the bottom as worn and having provision for attachment of a pad.

9. A truss spring as in claim 8 having a pair of bends each formed in the plane thereof, said pair of bends being opposite to form an elongated 8 shape and being longitudinally displaced with one on each side of said diagonal bend and adjacent thereto.

10. A truss having, in combination, a metallic yoke adapted to span the lower abdomen without extending substantially outside the region defined by the groins, a pad adjustably secured to the yoke adjacent each end thereof, a full-fashioned side spring member secured to one 'end of the yoke and having a bend on a line diagonal to its length, said bend being directed downwardly and away from the body toward the side on which said spring is to be worn, said bend further being in the same direction as the curvature of said spring about the hip as worn, a partial side spring member secured to the otherend of the yoke and having a bend on a line diagonal to its length, said last-mentioned bend being directed downwardly and toward the body from the side on which said last-mentioned spring member is to be worn, said last-mentioned bend further being opposite to the curva' ture of said last-mentioned spring member about the hip portion as worn, and a flexible member joining the free ends of said spring members, whereby a pad-retaining leverage action results from tightening the flexible member about the body.

11. A truss having, in combination, a side spring having substantially greater width than thickness and having a bend on a line diagonal to its length, said bend being directed downwardly and toward the front of the body from the side on which the spring is to be worn, said bend defining a forward portion and. a hip portion, the hip portion having a curvature to fit closely to the body when drawn thereagainst, the forward portion being ofl'set forwardly at the upper edge as worn, a pad secured to the forward portion, and means to encircle the body to hold the pad over the ruptured area and to draw said hip portion closely against the side, said bend being opposite to the curvature of the spring about the hip portion as worn.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 52,002 Parker Ian. 9, 1866 174,962 Kennedy Mar. 21, 1876 414,182 Barker Nov. 5, 1889 963,469 Pence July 5, 1910 1,378,317 Bobo May 17, 1921 2,051,921 Turner Aug. 25, 1936 2,130,697 Pease Sept. 20, 1938 2,548,557 Puski Apr. 10, 1951 2,710,002 Hansen June 7, 1955 2,756,745 Barch July 31, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 48,972 Germany Oct. 7, 1889 834,175 France Nov. 15, 1938 571,923 Great Britain Sept. 14, 1945 

